Discovery
by RealmOfPossibility
Summary: Post 5 x 07 Sympathy for the Demon: In the wake of Barbas' defeat, Piper's realisations lead her to take drastic action. The result is the appearance of a familiar face and a reunion they have all longed for…
1. Chapter 1

**A/N If you've read my other Charmed fics, you know I like to focus on the Piper/Paige relationship and so I decided to change the ending of 5x07 (Sympathy for the Demon). Instead of everyone but Paige swanning off to P3 after they defeat Barbas, well, take a look…**

**It will take a few chapters, I think. And I've used a couple of lines from 5x07. **

**Discovery - Chapter 1**

The house was silent.

The phone didn't ring, nor the doorbell. There was no one in the kitchen cooking or making coffee. The attic was quiet, too. There was no potion making, spell writing or summoning.

To Piper, it often seemed that way after a demon had been slain. Like the sudden shutting off of loud music after a party or a night at the club.

Though, here, something tangible remained in the air. In the walls.

In the soul.

And more and more these days, it felt increasingly difficult to continue shrugging off the after effects of the latest showdown. Perhaps it was because she was pregnant. Yes, that would make sense. Extra fatigue, extra hormones, an extra protective instinct for the precious baby growing inside her.

But, it didn't feel like that was the whole thing. There was an…_other…_lingering. There was something else, particularly today.

Barbas had long been one of their greatest enemies, one of the most difficult they had ever had to defeat. There had always been an extra element of danger whenever they faced him, always a greater need for the Power of Three to stay strong.

And it always seemed to take on a more personal fight, a deeper struggle, not just against magic or evil. Though, Piper mused as she folded the bathroom towels, that was exactly Barbas' MO. It was what made him so powerful.

Get at the most personal part of the heart and wring it dry for all it was worth.

And Barbas had given it his all, almost succeeding spectacularly. Using Cole to get at Phoebe. Using her own past and then her current pregnancy. Both masterstrokes, guaranteed to get the greatest of reactions.

Using Prue had been unexpected. Though in hindsight, Piper wasn't sure now why it had been so. Paige hadn't confided in her or Phoebe to a great degree, but she had, from time to time, revealed a little of the insecurity inside. Of her doubts about whether she could live in the shadow of a sister who had been both protector and leader.

Piper blinked and furrowed her brow as a sudden thought occurred to her.

Funny how she'd had many of those same thoughts herself over the past year or so. About whether she could step up to the role of oldest sister and be as Prue had been before…

Before.

Piper's chest tightened as it always did when thoughts of Prue crept their way into her mind.

It was a wound. And contrary to friend's advice, self-help books (at which she did little but roll her eyes) and leading psychological experts, the loss didn't diminish with time.

She simply got used to it because there was no other choice.

And she'd stepped up because the role had been thrust upon her in the most unwelcome of ways.

A role that, in the dead of night, she wondered if she was even cut out for. She knew how to be a big sister.

But, still she wondered if she could be _the _big sister.

Today had brought that to a head. Because even if she had been surprised by Paige's fear, she shouldn't have been shocked by Phoebe's.

_I'm evil._

_No, you're not…I've known you your whole life…_

Was she so far disconnected? Was she so out of touch with the very people living under the same roof? And had Barbas' appearance revealed a gaping inadequacy in her ability to fulfil her role as_ the_ big sister?

Piper sighed and stretched her neck from side to side. It was going to take some time to get over this one. But, they could all shake it off later tonight at P3. Drink and chat and let the music drown out their cares for a while. At least until tomorrow.

Til' the next time.

* * *

><p>She met Phoebe in the kitchen, studying the contents of the refrigerator with a critical eye.<p>

"Trying to conjure up the last of the juice you drank this morning?" she said wryly.

Phoebe squinted at her in a mock-glare, before closing the door emphatically.

"No," she retorted. "If I wanted more juice, I would try to conjure money from your purse to mine. Personal gain be damned."

Piper chuckled as she turned on the faucet for some water. She half-turned toward Phoebe.

"You coming to the club later?"

Phoebe nodded.

"M-hm. I'm meeting Miles."

Piper turned off the water and took a sip from her glass.

"Paige coming?" she asked casually. She didn't know why the answer felt so important just then.

Phoebe thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"She hasn't said much since we sent Barbas back to the slimy hole he crawled out of." She drummed her fingers on the kitchen bench. "Think she's ok?" She gave a humourless half-smile. "I mean, I almost killed her and all."

Piper shook her head. That was an image she didn't want to relive.

"You know that wasn't your fault, Phoebe," she said, taking a step forward.

Her sister waved her hand dismissively.

"Yeah, I guess I know that," she replied. "But, it doesn't change the fact that, for a moment, I was looking down at Paige with a knife in my hand and a giant hole in her stomach. That's not going to go away for awhile."

Piper nodded slowly, before walking over and reaching out, bringing Phoebe's head close enough for her to place a kiss against her temple.

"I know," she murmured. She leaned back to catch Phoebe's eye, her arm draped over her sister's shoulder. "So, go upstairs, put on something fabulous and we'll go to P3 and try and get rid of all thoughts of Barbas and what he did. He's back where he belongs and I'll do whatever it takes for him to stay that way." She made for the door. "I'll go see what Paige is doing and then we'll go."

* * *

><p>The music was terrific.<p>

The crowd was enthusiastic, spending money and tearing up the dance floor as if their very lives depended on it. Piper could see Phoebe through the crowd, sitting close to Miles and laughing at whatever he was saying into her ear.

It was a great night.

Well, it would be…

_Paige's back was to her as she stood at the window in her room._

"_Hey, you up for a night at the club?" Piper asked. She stood in the doorway, but didn't move into the room. She felt an invisible presence, as if a barrier would prevent her from coming inside if she tried._

_When Paige turned around, Piper couldn't help but stare. _

_She looked the same. Her pale skin, her bright hair. There was so much to indicate that there was nothing amiss._

_But, her eyes..._

_As they spoke, as Paige made some excuse to stay home instead of joining them at the club, Piper watched her sister's eyes…_

Piper blinked, the sound of raucous laughter bringing her back to the present.

There had been something missing, something lost in Paige's eyes. And Piper had known the minute she saw it that there was no question she could ask that would prompt Paige to tell her what that look was about. What it meant.

Oh, she could guess. The same things she herself was struggling with. Thoughts of Barbas, of her fears. Of Prue.

Prue.

Her mind went back to those final moments with Barbas. When the potion lay on the floor in a puddle and hope had seemed lost. When Barbas had grinned at Paige maliciously, smugly and Phoebe had encouraged her that she could use her power to get it.

And then Piper had opened her mouth.

_Prue did._

Piper was sure she would never forget the look on Paige's face when she had said that. Her pale face had gone paler still, she looked as if she had been slapped. It had been exactly what Barbas had wanted.

But, then she'd done it. Ignored Barbas' taunts. Used her magic. Gathered the potion. Flung it at Barbas defiantly. Ended it.

But, that look…

And suddenly, Piper rather thought it might as well have been her who stabbed Paige in the stomach.

"Hey, where'd you go?"

Piper forced a smile on her face and turned to Leo, sitting next to her on the couch. He studied her, his brow furrowed in concern and a touch of uncertainty. He reached out and took her hand and she squeezed his tightly. She sighed and swallowed against the lump in her throat.

"I'm realising that being the oldest sister comes with a lot of issues," she said, hearing her voice crack slightly.

Leo tilted his head a little.

"Like?"

Piper huffed a laugh.

"Like realising I'm crap at it," she replied, staring at their joined hands. She felt Leo's finger under her chin and lifted her head at his gentle prompt.

"That's not what I see," he said firmly. "What brought this on?"

Piper avoided meeting his gaze.

"Let's just say Paige isn't the only one comparing herself to Prue." She shrugged. "I know I can't do what Prue did. Be who she was. But, I thought I was doing ok, you know? I thought I had some of it figured out at least." She shook her head. "But, then Barbas brought all our fears out and I saw…well…"

"It sounds to me like Barbas' power hasn't completely gone away," Leo interrupted. "You are a great sister…"

Piper cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"I didn't know Phoebe was afraid she was evil!" She stopped and looked around quickly, before lowering her voice. "I should have seen that. And Paige? Well, it wasn't really that shocking that her issue was with Prue, I mean, deep down I kinda knew that, but I sure as hell haven't done anything about it."

"Piper," Leo said, "You've had a lot going on lately, with the baby and all…"

Piper glanced at him sideways.

"Not _that_ much, Leo. Prue always had way too much going on, but she managed to…I don't know." She looked around at the crowd and felt the atmosphere suddenly become crushing. She pulled her hand out of his grip and stood up. "I can't stay here anymore. I need some air. Can you close the club tonight?"

He nodded, still frowning. She leaned down for a quick kiss, before grabbing her jacket and making her way through the crowd to the door.

So much for forgetting things for a night.

* * *

><p>The air, at least, was refreshing, the streets quiet as she walked.<p>

A thought was taking hold in her mind, a plan she'd had many times in the last year or so. She'd tried it once before, with no success and since then she'd convinced herself time after time that what she'd been told was logical. That this plan was not supposed to succeed, that it would only make things more difficult.

But, this time was different. These thoughts were coming from a different place. It wasn't about loss anymore. And it wasn't just about her selfishly wanting what could never be.

It was about…

Helping herself.

Helping Paige. All of them.

And as far as Piper could see, there was only one person who could help.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N You might spot lines from 4x01, 4x03 and 4x20.**

**Thanks for reading.**

Chapter 2

_Do you think people can see us from Heaven, Prue?_

It was strange, the things Piper remembered about the sister she'd lost. Sometimes, she would struggle to remember the big things, birthdays and milestones and the like, and it would be almost as if they had never happened at all. Those moments left her feeling cold and hollow, filled anew with the knowledge that Prue was truly, certainly, absolutely never coming back. And sometimes, she would think until her head hurt, trying to remember ordinary details like the sound of Prue's voice or how reassuring it had been when she'd smiled. And it was as if she was the only one left in the world to remember and she was failing.

But, then, odd and unexpected memories would suddenly jump into her head. Coming home after school to see Prue at the stove, making dinner for them. Sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night for ice-cream, hoping against hope that Grams wouldn't wake up and catch them. Tapping codes on their bedroom walls when they were caught and banished to their rooms.

Or that warm, clear night after her sixteenth birthday when she and Prue had sat outside under the tree and looked up at the stars.

_Do you think people can see us from Heaven, Prue?_

_I don't know if everyone can, but I know Mom's totally looking down. She'd be so proud of you…_

A sudden rush of emotion blurred Piper's eyes with tears and she blinked them away quickly.

Maybe it was just wishful thinking. Maybe it was just the fact that she still missed Prue every day. Maybe it was that they'd just faced Barbas again, a demon they'd first fought with Prue.

Why would any attempts to summon her now have any more success than they'd had in those days after Prue's death?

It would be terrible if she was simply using Paige's pain as an excuse to ease her own. Their relationship was an odd, strained, unformed thing, even a year and a half later, but Piper knew with certainty she would never want to hurt Paige that way.

They were sisters and that meant more than just about anything, especially in this family.

_I care about her too much for that._

How long had it taken to admit that to herself without it feeling like a betrayal? Like she was moving on without Prue? Like she wasn't just inviting more pain in?

A long time.

She'd felt the first tiny stirrings when Paige had revealed those traumatic days around her parent's death.

_There were some days I didn't think I'd survive the sadness._

Even in those early, early days, something had stabbed at Piper's core, knowing that from their shared experience, they would understand each other in a way most others wouldn't. That it had hurt to know that Paige had been through something that was all too familiar.

But, it had been too early. Too early to open up. To reach out. So, she'd shut it down.

And she'd shut it down time and again when it had stirred up again, through those days when the Source had returned with a vengeance, taking Cole and causing Phoebe to go against her own sisters. To choose evil.

_I am the oldest sister. It is my job to keep the family together. At this, I am a failure._

Until she'd stood back in the face of her own weakness and watched Paige fight tooth and nail to do what she couldn't.

_You know, you're pretty amazing Paige…_

Paige had accepted that compliment in her typical offhand, let's-just-get-this-done kind of way, but Piper remembered how her eyes had taken on a…glow. As if one word from her sister had built some kind of unbreakable will within.

One word from her sister…

_Prue did._

Piper gritted her teeth and walked up the stairs to the porch.

And one word from her sister could tear her down, too. For all Paige's strength, there was a fragility there, too. Born of abandonment and loss and death.

She unlocked the front door, slipped through it and then closed it quietly, glancing up towards the staircase. She stood, listening, for a moment.

"Piper? Phoebe?"

She jumped at the closeness of the voice and placed a hand to her chest briefly, before taking the few steps towards the living room. Paige sat on the couch, her legs curled under her, a book in one hand.

Paige tilted her head quizzically.

"What are you doing home? It's not that late." One side of her mouth curled upward in a sly smirk. "Don't tell me you're getting too old for the pace."

Piper snorted.

"You're the one who bailed," she shot back.

Paige made a face of acquiescence, then raised her eyebrows.

"So…?" she prompted.

Piper regarded her sister thoughtfully. She appeared fine. That…look…Piper had seen before, one of haunting and loss, was gone.

But…still.

A mask wasn't so hard to keep in place. She'd long ago learned that if Paige didn't want them to know something, it was highly unlikely they would find out.

Her eyes fell to the book Paige was holding on her knee. She zeroed in on the title.

And there it was.

Proof that a mask couldn't cover all truths.

_The Ancient Secrets of Conjuring._

One of Gram's dusty old books, no doubt.

Paige's insecurity had reared its ugly head out of something Prue had done involving conjuring. Animal conjuring, hadn't Leo said?

"Earth to Piper," Paige called out. She shook her head, grinning in a puzzled way. "What is with you?"

Piper forced her thoughts aside and faked a smile.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired…Not from the club!" she added, allowing their conversation to remain in this light, neutral banter. It was something she enjoyed anyway. Maybe it felt normal. "I'm going upstairs. You ok down here?"

She almost missed it. That slight furrowing of Paige's brow, a spark of _something_ in her eyes, surprise maybe? As if she wasn't quite sure what Piper meant by such a question. As if it wasn't a question about her well-being, but something more offhand, less personal. Less caring.

"Yeah. I'm fine down here. Goodnight."

Piper hesitated momentarily, before nodding and heading for the stairs, her mind a flurry of thoughts. She turned her head, keeping her eyes on the living room and slowed as Paige came into view again. She ducked her head for a better view, her eyes fixed on the figure below.

Unaware she was being watched, Paige sat motionless on the couch, the hand holding the book dangling limply. Her face was too much in shadow for Piper to see any expression, but there was no mistaking the bowed head, the way her shoulders drooped a little, as if they were weighed down with an unspoken burden.

A mask couldn't cover all truths.

* * *

><p><em>In this night and in this hour, I call upon the ancient power, bring back my sister, bring back the power of three…<em>

Hell.

That's what it had been. A dark, abysmal hell of misery and grief. She could barely remember those days after, sitting in the attic, casting spell after spell in an agony of loss, in a desperation born of anguish.

Whoever the ancient powers were, they hadn't been listening that night.

Piper crossed the attic and stood in front of the Book of Shadows. For all the times it had helped them, guided them, enabled them to defeat demons and warlocks and all manner of evil beings, it had remained steadfastly silent on this.

This…well, she wasn't trying to bring back the dead.

She _had_ been, in those hours after. Unable, unwilling to accept that what had happened was the last word on the subject forever.

But, now, as with Grams and Mom, Prue had become one of the long line of Halliwell witches who took their honoured place among their descendants.

That was done.

But, over the past four and a half years, Piper had reached beyond. She had talked to her mother, to Grams, to others. She had brought Melinda Warren to their time, had almost fallen in love with a ghost for crying out loud!

And if all of _that_ could be done, well, so could this.

So, could this.

She closed the Book. She didn't need it for what she was about to do.

She cleared the space.

She lit the candles and stood back.

"Hear these words, hear my cry, Spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee, cross now the Great Divide."

Piper swallowed hard as the light materialised, clenching and unclenching her fists. She tried to think of the words she would say, but inexplicably, none would come. Where were the thoughts from earlier? The impassioned conviction of her feelings about why they needed this?

Now, it was just…apprehension.

A figure materialised from within the light and Piper breathed a sigh of relief. At least her call hadn't been ignored.

"Piper?" the figure called out, surprised.

Piper smiled crookedly.

"Hey Grams."

Penny Halliwell stepped forward and the light diminished. She looked around for a moment, as if expecting someone else.

"My dear, it hasn't been that long since you last summoned me," she said, gesturing towards Piper's abdomen. "You're barely showing. What's going on?"

"Technically, it was the baby who summoned you last time," Piper corrected. "And we got a little distracted with the whole fairy tale debacle."

Penny huffed.

"I try not to think about that too much, dear." She smiled at Piper quizzically, but it quickly faded. (Piper imagined her anxiety was rolling off her in waves and filling up the room.) "You've never really been in the habit of summoning me for social calls, so how about you tell me why I'm here." She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"We just defeated Barbas," Piper offered. "Again."

Penny rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well he's always been one for never going away quietly," she observed. "Or at all, for that matter." She studied Piper for a moment. "Everybody unscathed?"

Piper chuckled humourlessly and hooked her fingers in her belt.

"Depends on what you mean by 'unscathed.'"

Penny nodded, knowing all too well what Piper meant. She glanced around the room.

"Well, this room looks no worse for wear. And the place hasn't fallen down." She looked back at Piper. "But, you're not usually so cagey. What am I doing here, Piper?"

Piper took a deep breath.

"We need Prue."

Penny said nothing, merely regarding Piper thoughtfully.

"Where is this coming from?" she asked eventually.

Piper breathed out in a long sigh, turning her gaze from Grams to stare at the wall. Again, she chuckled without a shred of mirth.

"I don't even know where to begin."

"Well, you need to start somewhere because what you're asking is…"

"For Paige, it's for Paige," Piper blurted. She shook her head, feeling the strangeness of what she was asking for and why she was asking. "I mean, of course, there's a part of this that is coming from me, _for_ me, I can't help it. But, Paige is the reason I even thought to do this." She lifted her head and gazed at her grandmother. "You were there, Grams, the day Mom and Paige met. Mom needed it and Paige…? To know where she'd come from…_who_ she'd come from? It was so important." She nodded firmly, emphatically.

"Why now, Piper?" Penny asked, crossing her arms. "Something must have happened. Was it Barbas?"

Barbas. And so many other things.

"From the day she came into our lives," Piper began, "Paige has compared herself to Prue. I don't know how deep it goes, but…it's like she imagines she's less, somehow, or thinks we want her to be more like Prue. To _be_ Prue. I think sometimes Paige thinks we wish that everything was how it was before she was here. Or that she wasn't here or something." She bit her lip and closed her eyes momentarily. "It's taking a toll, Grams. I don't have the words to say to her. I don't know how to help her not feel this way. I don't think Phoebe and I are enough. Not for this."

Penny simply looked at Piper for a moment.

"I know it seems like the dead can just come and go as they like, the number of times you've seen it, but it's actually a very rare thing, Piper. I'm not sure what…"

"Doesn't she deserve it?" Piper interrupted. She stepped forward and held out her hands in a gesture of supplication. "I mean, after everything that she's been through, doesn't Paige deserve this? To see that she is no less than Prue, that we're all a part of this family?"

Penny's expression remained unmoving.

And then she smiled slightly.

"This is not the Piper I would have expected," she commented. "I've seen…And this is quite the turnabout." She nodded. "Your mother and I have wished for this since the three of you met. The Power of Three lies in the bonds of sisterhood, it always has."

Piper shook her head.

"I know I wasn't exactly welcoming of Paige when we met." She met Penny's eyes again. "But, I think I'm starting to realise some things. And I know…I can feel…that what I'm asking for is what she needs right now. Please, Grams, can't you do something?"

_You have to_, she thought. _Because I don't know what will happen to us if you don't._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N This plot seems to want to move slower than I thought it would. A few more chapters are needed…**

**Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 3

Paige studied the list of ingredients in the book, barely realising that she was squinting in the inadequate light of the lamp.

She didn't need a lion. Or an elephant. Hell, she didn't even need a dog or a squirrel. She'd settle for a bird. Light, inoffensive. Easy.

She could conjure a bird, right?

She focused on committing the ingredients of the spell to memory. A larger quantity of this. Not too much of that. Just a pinch of those, any more and she'd have a pterodactyl on her hands.

Well, at least if that happened, it would mean the spell had worked. Kind of.

And she didn't even like animals that much.

She recalled Leo's words to her barely a day ago about how difficult the Animal Conjuring spell was. No, _Prue's _Animal Conjuring Spell. He had meant to be encouraging, she knew he did. And she knew a large part of the reason why she had felt so frustrated and lame about the whole thing had been Barbas weaving his insidious magic through her, through all of them. Her head told her this. Her head told her to stop comparing herself, stop lessening herself, to remember everything she'd done that was good and heroic and brave.

She was a good witch. And she was, she thought, a good sister. Or at least she was learning to be.

Yes, her head told her.

But, her heart…?

Why was it that every time issues came up, old wounds buried deep, hers were always about being different? Being inferior?

Being unable to compete with either history or ghosts?

Being unworthy.

The same issue, over and over. And every time it came up, unwelcome and unbidden thoughts would crawl their way in. Of being abandoned by her parents, first by the ones who had given her away and then by the ones who had died mercilessly in that fiery crash. Of feeling wanted only for her power, to reconstitute the Power of Three, to fight evil for other's sake. Of being a sister in blood only. She, better than anyone, knew it took a lot more than blood to make the kind of family she wanted.

By far the worst thoughts were of the very people she was now sharing her life with. And days like today brought it all back with a vengeance.

Every look they exchanged when she suggested something. That tone they used to dismiss her ideas. The way they walked away from her.

The look on Phoebe's face when she had been under Barbas' spell. Anger and vengeance. Like she had wanted nothing more than Paige dead…

Paige squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth. It was like a broken record in her head sometimes and even she was sick to death of it. She could only imagine how sick of it everyone else would be if she shared it.

But, she didn't.

She didn't want to give them a reason to…

To what?

Kick her out? Out of their house? Out of their lives? Or to give up on her, put her in the 'too hard' box and slam the lid shut.

She _so_ needed something else to focus on. The record was getting ready for another turn.

"Get a grip," she muttered, heaving herself to her feet. She closed the book with a snap and leaned down, turning off the lamp. Making her way to the stairs, she made sure to leave the porch light on for Phoebe and Leo.

Paige briefly paused on the first floor, wondering momentarily if she should just go to bed and get a good night's rest.

But, her feet already seemed intent on carrying her up to the attic.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, her hand hovered over the fine, yellow powder.<p>

A bird. That was all.

She picked up a pinch of the last ingredient and tossed it into the bowl. Her fingers ran through the collection of ground herbs, feeling like sand against her skin. She ran her fingers around the bowl, mixing everything together. _Lightly, not roughly_, the Book said.

Her fingers closed around a handful and she withdrew her hand. She held it in front of her and hesitated, staring at her hand. She nodded once, drawing in a deep breath….

…And flung her hand out, opening it to let the powder escape.

She blinked once.

And felt something _push _inside her chest as her eyes caught sight of the flapping of wings towards the ceiling. A flash of white worked its way upwards, before curving around to make its way towards her still outstretched hand.

The dove landed lightly on her wrist and cocked its head, its eyes staring at her intently.

She stared at it for a moment, then laughed quietly, drawing her arm down slowly, the bird still perched on top.

"Hey, little guy," she said, craning her neck to study the dove from all visible angles. Two wings, two legs, one beak.

Perfect. It was perfect.

She'd done it.

She gingerly raised a finger and stroked over the top of its head. If she'd had a bucket list of magic, that would've been up there near the top. She huffed a soft laugh. A lot of Prue's spells would be. She'd tried a few of her own, including the very one that had turned her hair vibrant. But, somehow, succeeding at someone else's, her oldest sister's, seemed more…important. Satisfying.

The bird flapped its wings lightly, distracting her from the thought. Nodding to herself, Paige began walking over to the window. She reached down with one hand and pulled the window up, leaving a large gap for the bird to fly out to freedom. She turned and leaned against the wall, side-on to the window, and studied the dove once more.

Paige's smile faded, remembering again the war between her head and her heart. Her head's argument held its proof right here, on her arm. She was Paige Matthews, completely competent, wielder of powerful magic, saver of innocents. Animal conjurer.

Her heart's proof, she knew, wasn't so visible.

Paige lowered her arm to the window.

"Go on," she whispered, jiggling her arm gently. "Off you go."

When the bird didn't budge, she frowned and bent down, her arm now right next to the window.

"Hey," she said, a little louder. "You're free. Go!"

The bird twisted its head around in sharp little turns, before looking back at her.

"Trust me to conjure a stupid bird," she said to it. Bringing her other hand down, she shoved her arm through the gap and prodded at the bird's feet, still firmly attached to her arm.

"What are you doing?"

Paige turned her head quickly and stood up. She glanced down at the bird, before looking up at Phoebe as she took a few steps further into the room.

"Oh. Hey, Phoebe." She chuckled slightly, as her sister narrowed her eyes at the bird. "I was just, you know…creating life."

Phoebe raised her eyebrows at the bird.

"What?" she asked, looking around the room. "Creating…oh." Her eyes fell on the table containing all manner of ingredients. "Prue's animal spell? Leo said you were attempting that."

_Prue's animal spell._

_Prue's._

"Yeah," Paige replied, shrugging and smiling, finally waving her arm hard enough for the dove to fly off and flap away to a corner of the attic. "Thought I'd give it a try."

Phoebe smiled back, nodding.

"Clearly it worked," she commented. "Nice bird."

Paige moved to the table and began cleaning up her mess.

"Home from the club already?" she asked.

Phoebe nodded.

"Miles has an early meeting in the morning, so we called it a night." She walked to the table and picked up a jar, studying it idly for a moment, before placing it back down. "Piper's already in bed, so I thought I'd come see what you're doing." She gestured to the bird perched quietly in the corner. "Didn't expect you to be in a magic-y mood."

Paige frowned slightly and paused.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

Phoebe shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess I thought we'd all lie low." She smiled quickly.

Paige looked at her suspiciously.

"Was that your extremely awkward way of asking if I'm ok?" She lifted her shirt, exposing her stomach and gestured to it. "As you can see, Leo totally healed me. No knife wounds. I'm fine." She dropped her shirt and picked up the mortar and pestle, turning to place it back in the cupboard.

Phoebe stared at her for a moment. There was nothing to see on Paige's skin, no wound or scar, no visible evidence that anything had ever happened.

Except for the visions in her head that were stuck on replay.

At the time, it had been Barbas, she'd been so certain of that. And she'd got so caught up in his taunts, his lies and he'd been standing _right in front of her_ and all she could think about was plunging that knife into the son of a…

She had and it hadn't felt evil, it had felt good, so good.

That had all been stripped away in an instant, as if she'd been plunged into an ice-cold bath, stealing her breath and burning her skin. To see the younger sister that she'd come to treasure lying on the ground beneath her, so pale and still. The fear and realisation of what she'd done had almost been too much to bear.

It was Prue all over again, only this time it was by her own hand.

Which brought up another question.

Why the hell had she left Paige here alone tonight? When the day had brought them to the brink and the fear she'd had from the very beginning had been a real and present danger. Her fear from the start…

Of losing a sister.

She was able to recall it clearly, as if it were yesterday, of sitting at the pool, desperately watching the water for Prue to break the surface, trying to control her own sobbing breaths from behind the gag over her mouth. Prue, who had been facing her own fears at the time and who'd later stunned both herself and Piper by telling them she loved them, something that had proven so difficult in the past. Things like that had always pulled them closer together, strengthened their bond. Disaster and danger, the prospect of losing one another had closed their ranks, caused them to reach out, to clutch at each other like a lifeline.

Now, it seemed they simply carried on, business as usual. Have dinner. Go to the club. Have a date.

Did it mean so little now? Weren't they more to each other than that? A stab to the gut, a rushed apology and that was enough?

That couldn't be enough, could it?

"I'm starting to worry about the two of you, you know," came Paige's amused voice.

Phoebe's eyes snapped up to meet her sister's.

"What?"

Paige pushed a stool under the table and looked over the tidy surface with satisfaction.

"Piper came home earlier and she was acting kind of strange. A bit like you. What were you thinking about?" Paige asked.

Phoebe sighed and walked around the table, taking hold of Paige's arm. She led her sister over to one of the old chairs lining the wall and sat down next to her.

"I…" she began, hardly knowing what words were about to come from her mouth. What thoughts wanted to make themselves known. "I nearly killed you, Paige. And 'sorry' feels so inadequate after what I did. And I know I was seeing Barbas, that it was all part of his illusion, but it was still you there. I should have known, shouldn't I?" She choked a bitter laugh. "I mean, shouldn't I?" She reached out took Paige's hand, squeezing it tightly. "You know I love you, right? What happened hasn't made you think…I don't know…Just know that I love you and that you and Piper are everything to me."

Paige stared at Phoebe, overwhelmed. She hadn't expected that. Phoebe had grabbed at her after she'd been healed, had hugged her and hovered, not wanting her too far out of reach. And Paige had forgiven her, of course she had. But, that didn't mean that it didn't secretly thrill her that Phoebe had been thinking about it since then, wanting Paige to know how she felt.

Like she was something precious.

Like the things her heart tried to drag her down with couldn't ultimately win that battle.

"I know how much you care about me, Phoebe." She looked down at their joined hands.

And realised that, sometimes, actions weren't enough. That even though they saved each other, threw themselves in the line of fire for each other…

Three little words still mattered so much.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"OK, what's going on?"

Piper turned and looked unblinkingly at Phoebe. Her younger sister's eyes were steely, her mouth set in a firm line. She knew that look. Had seen it a thousand times, ever since Phoebe had been old enough to make it (and she hadn't been that old). Had she not been the older sister, had she not dealt with that face so often before, Piper might have been unnerved, ready to acquiesce to whatever request Phoebe made of her. Others had before her. Many, many others.

Instead, Piper tilted her head to the side, reached out a hand and pressed firmly on the coffee-maker's 'On' button.

"The coffee, sister. That's what's going on." She smiled crookedly and grabbed a knife to butter her toast.

Phoebe was faster, though. She placed her hand on the knife before Piper could get to it, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't get smart with me, Piper," she said sternly.

Piper bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Grams? Is that you?" she asked, feigning shock.

Phoebe removed her hand and whacked Piper's, before pulling back to settle on a chair. Piper went back to her toast and then joined Phoebe at the table.

"Seriously," Phoebe continued, watching as Piper ate. "Something weird is going on. This house has all kinds of wacky vibes and I don't mean magical. Weird _sister-_vibes, Piper. Involving our dear youngest who, thankfully, isn't up yet because I don't think I'd get anything out of her." She leaned forward and steepled her fingers against her chin. "Paige was up at some ungodly hour last night, working on that damned animal spell. We now have a pet bird, by the way."

"Like Paige isn't messy enough without a pet," Piper commented, taking a bite of toast.

Her thoughts ran double-time.

She wasn't trying to avoid anything, not really. Bits and pieces of thoughts had been running through her head over the last 24 hours, barely anything she herself could put together coherently. Her crazy (half-cocked?) plan to get Prue here, the worries she had about Paige, they weren't supposed to be a _secret_. Once she had fully formulated her plan and had got Grams to somehow (miraculously?) agree to it, she had planned on talking to Phoebe. No question. It went without saying. Something this big couldn't possibly happen without her.

It had been harder with Paige. To surprise her (Hey! Meet your big sister!) seemed both the right thing to do and completely the wrong thing. Besides, if it all ended up coming to nought, it might be best not to have got her hopes up. But, telling her? It gave her time to come to grips with it, but it also gave her equal time to say no, to take some strange action to avoid it. Oh, yes, she had ummed and aahed with Paige.

Let alone her own thoughts on the matter.

It was hard enough trying to keep at bay all the secret dreams and hopeless wishes she had dwelled on in quiet moments over the past year and a half. All the times she had ached for Prue to come back. Those nights in the dark, when Leo was off with a charge, and she'd had nothing but the ticking hours to lie awake and remember all that had been lost…

Seeing the current expression on Phoebe's face, it was only now that Piper truly realised Phoebe was going to be pissed that she'd done so much already without her. It was Prue, after all. The one they'd lived and died with, been intertwined with.

Prue.

It both terrified her and made her want to burst into tears.

"Not the point," Phoebe was saying, waving a hand dismissively. "Staying up until the small hours to focus on a spell Prue created? Defeating Barbas by facing her fear of not being able to do everything _Prue_ could? Having to…"

"Avoiding us?" Piper interjected, brushing her fingers over some imagined breadcrumbs on the table. It was a way in.

Phoebe frowned.

"She's not here," Piper elaborated, waving a hand carelessly up in the air. "She left before I got up. I haven't seen her since last night when she was sitting on the couch practically in the dark reading a book because she wasn't at the club. With us." She pushed her plate aside and placed her elbows on the table, folding her hands under her chin, letting her shoulders drop. "So, if you think you're onto something, that ship has sailed, my friend."

There was silence for a moment as Phoebe narrowed her eyes.

"What do you know that I don't?" she asked, her suspicions growing at Piper's sudden guilty expression. "Has she talked to you?"

Piper rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, right. But, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that what happened yesterday goes deeper than just some illusion Barbas cooked up. I've been thinking back…" She sighed. "Now, I can see so many times…Paige's history? Her insecurities? They've been there since before we even knew her. And I've just glossed over them because she wasn't…because I was trying to get over losing Prue, trying to get used to a new sister, a new _life_." She placed her hands on the table and gazed at Phoebe. "Maybe it was selfish, or self-absorbed. I don't know."

Phoebe's expression softened.

"We were grieving, Piper."

Piper shrugged one shoulder and gave a small smile. After a moment, she spoke.

"Do you remember the day Leo brought her parents back to see her?" At Phoebe's wordless nod, she continued. "I just keep thinking about the look on her face. She thought it was her fault they died. She wondered whether they were proud of her. And when her dad said they were, her face glowed for hours…" She smiled painfully. "It just…"

Phoebe nodded, her mind's eyes conjuring the exact moment.

"Lifted a burden?"

Piper traced invisibles patterns on the tabletop.

"What if…what if there was a way to do that again?" she said, not looking Phoebe in the eye.

Phoebe sat back and stared at Piper for a long moment. When Piper finally met her eye, she raised an eyebrow.

"What have you done?" she asked calmly.

Piper sighed and raised her eyes.

"OK, don't get mad. I summoned Grams and asked…"

"You summoned Grams?" Phoebe said incredulously, leaning forward abruptly. So much for calm. "Without telling me? How…?"

Piper waved a hand in the air again, cutting her off.

"I didn't even know if it was possible! I needed some answers! I didn't want to get your…anybody's hopes up. I mean, we have been down this road _before_, Phoebe, and it didn't go so well."

Phoebe regarded Piper, while chewing on her bottom lip.

"You asked her for Prue, didn't you?" she said quietly. "You think Prue can do for Paige what her parents did."

Piper lifted her hands in a helpless gesture and made a face.

"I'm not sure_ I_ can and I don't think you can either," she replied. She shook her head slowly. "I have thought this through, Pheebs. I can do this for her. I _want_ to do this for her. I see things now that I didn't before and if there was anything I thought I could do, personally, I would. I would do it right now. And maybe we have our own issues to work out. But, this…this needs to happen first."

Phoebe stood up abruptly. Piper frowned.

"Wha..?"

Phoebe jerked her head up, indicating the ceiling.

"Why are we waiting? You obviously did this yesterday, Grams doesn't need that much time to decide if she's going to help us. Either she is or she isn't and if the answer is no, I'd rather hear it now instead of later, when I will have had time to think about it and actually dare to imagine seeing Prue again." She blinked several times and Piper wasn't sure if those were tears she saw.

Phoebe rounded the table and grabbed Piper's elbow, tugging her up. Piper felt somewhat manhandled as she was pulled forward and out of the kitchen.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" she demanded, yanking her arm back.

Phoebe looked at her questioningly.

Piper looked at her expectantly.

"Don't you think it would be better if you _did_ take some time to think about it? Prepare yourself? I'm as desperate to see Prue as you are, but that wasn't the reason I did this. I don't want…this…to be just about us reuniting with Prue. That's just going to make everything worse! I wanted to do this for Paige, not us."

Phoebe shook her head emphatically.

"All the more reason to do it now. Having time, having it sit around in my head makes it more about us and you're right, it's _not_ about us. So, let's go and help our sister. Let's go badger Grams until she can't refuse."

* * *

><p><em>Hear these words, hear my cry,<em>

_Spirit from the other side._

_Come to me, I summon thee,_

_Cross now the Great Divide…_

Piper could feel Phoebe's palms sweating as they clutched each other's hands. She gnawed at the inside of her lip as she watched the familiar light take on a darker shape within, saw it materialise into human form.

"Hey Grams," Phoebe greeted.

Penny looked from sister to sister.

"Come to double team me, my dears?" she asked mildly, completely unsurprised at the notion.

Piper cracked a small smile.

"Twenty years later and we still haven't learned that doesn't work," she replied. She hesitated. "So?"

A tiny word, filled with more hope than she'd ever put into two letters.

Penny stepped a little closer, casting her eyes around momentarily.

"Paige isn't here?" she asked, frowning.

"Paige isn't home," Phoebe confirmed.

"I thought the whole point of this was for Paige," Penny commented.

Piper frowned.

"Well, I wasn't sure what your answer would be," she said slowly, her stomach beginning to churn. It sounded as if…

It couldn't possibly mean…

Grams raised her eyebrows, shaking her head, looking insulted and affectionate all at once.

"My darlings, I held each of you in my arms the day you were born. I raised you when your mother couldn't. I dried every angst-ridden teenage tear, counselled every problem." She shook her head again. "Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I wouldn't move heaven and earth to help you. The time wasn't right before, but things have changed."

Piper, feeling somewhat chastened, dropped her eyes for a moment. She opened her mouth.

"Piper…" Phoebe breathed.

It was the tone.

It was the _tone_.

One she'd never heard from Phoebe's mouth. Not after all they'd seen and done (and lost) had she ever heard such a tone from her sister. And if someone had asked her to explain what it sounded like, Piper wouldn't have been able to give it depth.

It sounded like terror. Like hope. And something unfathomable, even in a world where they had seen the unimaginable.

She knew before she lifted her head.

She _knew_.

Knew that when she raised her eyes to look up that there would no longer be just the three of them in the attic.

She braced herself.

Why was she suddenly so afraid?

The light was fading as her eyes lifted. A light rapidly revealing a form she hadn't laid eyes on since that awful, devastating, fateful day.

It felt like a hundred years ago.

It felt like yesterday.

And she looked the same.

All sound seemed to have been viciously sucked from the room, leaving behind some kind of heavy essence. A silence that weighed like a ten-tonne truck. Piper barely noticed that Phoebe's hold on her hand could have snapped the bones in her fingers like twigs.

She felt her lips pressing together as if they were trying to hold something in. She was hardly conscious that she was shaking her head back and forth slightly, her mind still trapped in the preceding minutes, the minutes when it had been just her and Phoebe and Grams, the minutes when it hadn't been _Prue_ standing there nodding her head even as Piper's continued to shake.

She felt a sudden release of bone and skin as Phoebe let go of her hand and rushed forward, grabbing at Prue, flinging her arms around her in a vice-like grip. Her shoulders heaved, but there was still barely any sound.

Prue, in turn, buried her face in Phoebe's neck, one hand reaching up and around to grab a fistful of her sister's hair. Her other hand stretched out.

Stretched toward Piper, her hand turning palm-up, fingers opening and closing in a gesture to _come here._

Her steps didn't falter as she moved, though it seemed as if she weren't the one taking them. She stopped just out of reach and, after a moment, Prue lifted her head, tendrils of hair sticking to her cheeks. Her tears or Phoebe's? Or both?

The two sisters stared at each other. It was suddenly so quick. So…now. Yesterday, this had all been some abstract, well-intentioned idea and then it was…Right in front of her.

Prue's eyes searched Piper's. The silence yawned in a chasm of unknown words. Until…

"I didn't want to leave you," Prue said softly. Phoebe's shoulders heaved again and Piper glanced at her once, before moving her eyes back to Prue.

She swallowed.

"But, you did." To her own ears, she sounded fifteen years younger.

Prue smiled tearfully and nodded.

"Yeah. I kinda did," she choked out.

It was the gently affectionate, yet almost chiding use of _kinda_ that moved Piper forward again. Two steps and suddenly a strong hand gripped a handful of the shirt she was wearing and dragged her in and she felt her head being pressed forward.

Piper reached around and something inside her unclenched when her hand touched Prue's back.

The three of them locked together, a great maelstrom of emotions whirling and tumbling around them.

**A/N I stopped there because, yeah, Piper and Phoebe do deserve a moment…**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Thanks for reading. Still a little bit to go. This is my first time writing Prue, so I ask for a little grace…**

Chapter 5

Grams had disappeared. Slipped away unnoticed by any of the three in their tight circle. It was Phoebe who realised first.

"Wow," she said shakily, swiping under her eyes with her thumbs. "I didn't even see her go."

Prue chuckled lightly, pushing her hair back off her face.

"Your face was sorta jammed into my shoulder," she replied, though her eyes were on Piper, who had pulled back from their embrace.

The three stood for a moment, looking between each other wordlessly.

Here they were in the _after_ moment.

None of them were remotely prepared for it. When they had all spent months dreaming of this reunion, aching for it, but without expectation that it would be granted to them. There had never been a moment to truly consider what…the rest would look like.

Piper shook her head for the millionth time, looking first at Prue, then Phoebe.

"The number of times I wished for this," she began. "So many times I played it out in my head, all the things I'd say to you…" She huffed a laugh. "Now, I can't think of a single thing to say."

"I'd like to start with where the hell have you been?" Phoebe said, but her voice carried no venom. Her two older sisters raised their eyebrows. "I'm not angry," she continued. "Well, not anymore. I just…yeah, where have you been? Did you see us? Did you try to…I don't know…" She gestured helplessly, unable to complete the thought.

"Did I try to come back?" Prue finished, a shadow falling over her face for a moment.

Phoebe nodded slightly. Piper saw her physically holding her breath.

Prue chuckled humourlessly, running a shaky hand through her hair. She didn't speak for a long moment and it suddenly occurred to Piper for the first time that it wasn't only the living she should have been thinking about. In all her thoughts about Paige and Phoebe and, yes, herself, she had forgotten that there was, in fact, another whose existence had been changed by the events of last year. Piper felt a hard knot of heaviness begin to form in her chest as she waited for Prue to speak.

"You don't…you don't know how hard I tried," Prue eventually said, her brow furrowed as she stared at the floor. Her younger sisters watched as she swallowed and blinked back the threatening emotion.

Same old Prue. Trying to protect her sisters from her own feelings.

"I didn't just lose you," Prue continued, finally looking up at them. "I lost my life as well and at first all I could think about was the magic that would get me back here. They wouldn't let me see you…"

"Who wouldn't?" Phoebe interrupted.

Prue gave a small smile.

"Grams. And Mom. They'd been through it all before, especially Mom." She shook her head slowly. "Any anger I ever felt about her dying just disappeared after that. Now that I _know _what…" She shrugged one shoulder. "But, I tried." She gazed at each of them. "Just know that."

Phoebe reached out and grabbed one of Prue's hands, squeezing it firmly. The silence grew heavy again.

To Piper, it seemed as if she could physically see old wounds being unstitched as each minute went by.

Had this been a mistake? Was this why the dead rarely visited? Was she, in fact, simply causing more pain for everyone? Grams had helped them and, throughout her life, Piper had always taken that to be permission, a sign of approval. But, maybe this time…

But, it couldn't be undone now. Prue was here and it had to play out in whichever way it was meant to. Equal measures of bitter and sweet.

Even as Piper mulled over these hidden thoughts, Prue shook her head as if pulled from her own thoughts, drew in a breath and looked around, that shadow dropping away.

"Now, it occurs to me that I actually have three sisters and yet I only see two," she observed.

Phoebe's face broke into a smile at that and she nodded.

"She…Paige…doesn't know about any of this," she replied, looking over at Piper. "It was Piper's idea."

Piper threw her a mock glare.

"Yeah, well, if this turns out to be a total disaster, it was both of us," she shot back.

Prue frowned.

"Why would this be a disaster?" she asked. "Paige doesn't like surprises?"

Piper and Phoebe shared a look.

"Did Grams tell you why we wanted to see you?" Piper asked carefully.

Prue shook her head slowly.

"Not really, though she did say it was between the four of us, so I'm guessing you said something to her which she chose not to tell me."

"How much do you know about Paige?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, I know nobody knew of her existence except Mom and Grams until last year, but have you, I don't know…"

Again, Piper could practically see the tearing of another stitch.

"I couldn't look…not at first," Prue confessed. "I guess that makes me a coward. I had this strange feeling that if I saw you…together… it meant you were moving on without me. But, that's what's supposed to happen, isn't it? That's what we had to do after Mom died. That's how things work." She smiled wistfully. "I did look. Eventually. Waited for a moment when she was alone. She was outside her work at South Bay. She'd just sent a kid off with new parents I think and she was just standing there with this…expression on her face. Mom had told me a bit about her history and I think I understood that expression." Again, that smile. "It was actually kind of a terrible moment to be the first time I saw my youngest sister. I looked again, from time to time, I saw all of you, but not very much. I mean, I could see you, but I couldn't talk to you. All it seemed to do was make me feel worse, as if I'd lost three sisters instead. So I stopped. Because things are the way they are."

"Doesn't mean we have to like it," Piper said softly and Prue shot her an understanding look. "I didn't want to accept Paige for the same reason you didn't want to look. But, I guess I've been seeing things differently and after what happened with Barbas…"

Prue's eyes narrowed.

"Wait. Barbas?" she demanded.

Piper smiled ruefully.

"Guess that was one of the things Grams didn't mention."

"_That_ I would've liked to have heard," Prue glared up at the ceiling. "What happened with Barbas?"

"The usual," Phoebe said. "He managed to con some lower level demon into helping him and then went about using all of our fears against us to get his revenge. Obviously, he didn't succeed."

Piper nodded.

"In fact, it was Paige who saved us in the end," she said. "By facing her fear…about you."

Nobody spoke for a long minute.

"I'm Paige's greatest fear?" Prue asked slowly, looking equal parts hurt and surprised.

"No," Phoebe rushed to disagree. "And this is the whole reason we brought you back. Paige…has never…I mean we haven't…" She stopped and looked helplessly at Piper. How could they sum up their youngest sister in a few short words?

"Paige…hasn't had a lot that she could count on in her life," Piper began. "And it's made her…question her worth. So when she stepped in to the place you left…"

A sudden knowing crossed Prue's face.

"And you think _I'm_ the one who can make this right?"

* * *

><p>Paige closed the front door and hung up her coat. Dropping her purse and keys on the front table, she rubbed a hand over her face and stepped into the living room.<p>

Empty.

She headed for the kitchen. On the table was a plate with a half-eaten piece of toast and a barely touched cup of coffee. After looking around for a moment, Paige walked to the table, her footsteps sounding loud in the silence. She leant down and placed her hand around the cup. It was cold.

As she straightened up, Paige heard a low murmur coming from above, so low she almost thought she had imagined it.

Voices.

Piper and Phoebe were upstairs. And Paige didn't feel like joining them. But, the voices were so low, Paige figured they must be in the attic and not in their bedrooms. It was a big house, but their voices usually carried more from the first floor.

And if they were in the attic, it usually meant something magical.

Something that required the three of them.

After a short, but longing look at the coffee pot, Paige dragged herself towards the stairs and began walking up.

She reached the top of the stairs and approached the small passage to the attic.

And stopped.

There was a voice she didn't recognise. A woman's voice. Paige frowned and began walking forward. Any friends they had who knew about magic were mutual.

So, if they were all in the attic talking about magic, who was the stranger?

Paige stood in the doorway momentarily.

"Hey, what's going on? she asked, stepping into the attic.

Piper and Phoebe turned around and a space appeared between them.

Revealing the third member of their group.

Paige saw her. Saw her as if looking through eyes that were not her own. Through some sort of distant lens.

She had never met her, but Paige knew who it was immediately. She'd seen albums of photos and the face was almost as familiar to her as the sisters she lived with, even if it was taking her brain a little longer to catch up with what her eyes were trying to tell it.

Yes, she knew who it was.

Prue.

Her oldest sister.

Her predecessor.

And, as Barbas had revealed, her fear. In a roundabout kind of way.

But, definitely not a stranger. Prue had been the shadow behind Piper and Phoebe's every despairing look, every tear in those early days. And then, somehow, she'd become the shadow in Paige.

But, the woman standing there looked remarkably ordinary. Here, she wasn't some Superwitch that stoked the choking fire of inferiority in Paige.

She was the sister Piper and Phoebe had longed for all this time (and possibly her, too). The thread that had wound them together. The rock that had kept their foundation so strong.

And she was here. In the attic.

Back?

Paige stayed in the doorway and swallowed, aware that the room had become decidedly thick with unspoken words. How many of them were her own, she had no idea.

No idea.

No idea what she should say. Was she supposed to say something? Why was Prue here? Had Piper and Phoebe summoned her or had she just shown up? An irrational thought crept into her mind.

_Was she back?_

It was ludicrous, of course. The dead didn't just get their bodies back a year and a half after losing them.

_Why was she here?_

Even from a distance, Paige could see they'd all been crying. Clearly she'd interrupted the reunion. She couldn't understand it, though.

_Why was she here?_

Or perhaps that was rapidly becoming the wrong question. Perhaps the right question was…

_Why am I here?_

"Paige?"

Her eyes flicked over to Phoebe, who was smiling crookedly at her. Flicked to Piper, who looked…so many things. Relieved, but slightly horrified. Flicked to Prue, but barely caught her gaze before she looked away.

Paige was an intruder here. Perhaps the moment had finally arrived. They didn't need her anymore.

"Paige, come here."

Piper was gesturing, beckoning her closer, having recovered from her initial shock at Paige's entrance. Now, she was…smiling? Paige rather thought it might have meant to be encouraging, though mostly it looked tearful.

Paige suddenly realised she hadn't uttered a sound for a few minutes now. Had just stood there, mouth clamped shut, just looking at them like some kind of weird mute. She _was _supposed to say something. Supposed to be excited by the arrival of the sister she'd never known. Supposed to be thrilled by the thought of this reunion. She stretched her mouth into what she hoped was more smile than grimace, even as a heaviness pushed down on her chest.

She forced herself forward and Piper stretched out her arm, ready to pull her forward when she was within reach.

"Paige," Piper said, in a tone Paige had never heard from her before. Maybe she'd always sounded like this before Prue had died. Paige wouldn't know. "It's Prue."

"Yeah," Paige replied "I figured."

Not the right thing to say. At all. It didn't match what she was trying to do with her expression. Not the right tone. It sounded like a reaction to Piper suggesting they all study Algebra together.

Her sisters exchanged a glance and Paige knew they'd all heard it. Well, screw it. She was starting to feel it. Anger. They'd clearly excluded her from this, she'd only stumbled upon them anyway. It was laughable, really. Yesterday, Piper and Phoebe had witnessed with their own eyes Barbas taunting her with her fear of inferiority, her fear of not being enough. They'd obviously looked right past that to the person behind it, had decided that they'd waited long enough, been apart from Prue long enough.

She'd skipped as much Algebra as possible in high school. And now, she wouldn't mind skipping this…whatever this was supposed to be.

So, she stopped just out of reach of Piper's hand. And looked right at Prue. She could see there was a resemblance, sort of, though with her hair its current colour, it was doubtful anyone would mistake them for sisters.

She'd wanted to be independent. Different. That's why she hadn't fixed her hair after what Leo called the Exploding Potion Incident.

But, she wanted to be accepted, too. Right?

Now, Paige didn't know what she wanted. Except that she wanted to be out of the attic, away from the happy reunion she didn't know how to be part of.

She had to go.

Paige took a step back, then turned.

"Paige," Phoebe called.

She heard footsteps.

Paige felt someone reach out and grab her hand and she shook her head. Turning back, she opened her mouth to tell Piper or Phoebe to let go, to leave her be. Let her deal with this on her own.

But, as she looked up, Paige saw it wasn't the sisters she knew who had reached out for her.

It was Prue.

**A/N I seem to be erring on the side of angst. Sometimes, the words just write themselves…**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Thanks for reading. I know I said this is about Piper/Paige and I just want to reassure you it is! There are just other things to get to before then. In the meantime, go back and watch that moment at the end of 4x03 (?) when Piper goes to Paige's work. I think that might just be my favourite Piper/Paige scene…**

**There's a line from 4x01.**

**Chapter 6**

Prue's hand was warm, when Paige had probably been expecting a chill. The woman was dead, after all. Though, come to think of it, Grams had been warm, too, when Paige had allowed her to embrace her that one time. Now, Prue's grip was demanding too, when Paige had thought it might be hesitant. For one thing, she hadn't yet said a word to her oldest sister, had basically glared at her for their entire first meeting.

Hardly an invitation for physical contact.

But, then, Paige really didn't know what Prue was like. She'd heard quite a few stories about her, but the most she'd really taken from those was that Prue was a strong witch who didn't suffer demons to live.

But, the kind of person she was? The kind of sister? Well, Paige's best guess was more like a wild shot in the dark.

Presently, their hands were locked in this firm grip, the kind someone might have if they had no intention of letting go. For anything. Some might have called it tenacity, or even an older sister's unwavering need to protect, to not let her out of her sight.

To Paige, it felt incredibly presumptuous. Her hand instinctively tightened, her entire arm tensing as she prepared to wrench it back.

"Guys, can you give us a minute?"

Paige's eyes shot up to look at Prue uncertainly. Now? Really? In the middle of this wonderful reunion, Paige was the one she wanted to talk to? But, Piper and Phoebe were nodding, nodding like this was all part of some design, as if they had expected this all along. Paige's brow furrowed as Piper stepped forward and took hold of her arm, briefly squeezing it.

Just when she didn't think she could be any more at a loss…

Her eyes followed Piper and Phoebe as they looked meaningfully at Prue and then left the attic.

Paige's blood ran cold as a thought struck her. And the anger that had been slowly evolving into surprise and uncertainty, roared back quickly.

"Am I about to get a lecture?" she asked, looking down at the place where Prue's hand was still wrapped around her own. "Have the Charmed Ones decided to stage some kind of intervention against me? Sit me down and help me understand the rules of magic all over again?"

She finally succeeded in getting her hand back and took a step back.

Prue's expression was unreadable, but Paige knew there was something there, just below the surface. She had no clue what it was, though. She wished her own behaviour was equally unknowable, but that ship had probably sailed the moment she'd stepped into the attic. Usually, she was so much better at hiding her feelings.

"I didn't know this would be awful for you," Prue finally spoke. "Clearly, you hate surprises." She turned her head and looked at the wall for a moment, her gaze fixing on the empty space, as if the answers would be found written there. Eventually, she turned back to Paige. "Now that I'm here, I wanted to meet you."

_A handshake. A shaking chandelier. A burst of bright light._

"_I think that means you're meant to be here."_

A complete shift from one kind of life into another. Was this another one of those moments?

And why did she feel so damn bitter about it?

Paige looked at the doorway where Piper and Phoebe had just exited. That was her answer, right there. Twenty-four hours after facing her fear, they had brought it back and thrown it in her face.

"I guess it's even now," she murmured.

Prue frowned.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

Paige raised her eyebrows and smiled without a drop of mirth.

"Yesterday, Phoebe stabbed me while looking right into my eyes. Now, she's made it even by stabbing me in the back." She shook her head. She wasn't this person, this bitter, angry, venom-spitting…but these words were just spilling out of her mouth and she wasn't sure she wanted to stop them. Not when the very spectre of all her insecurities was standing right in front of her.

Maybe Barbas had been working on her for a while, hovering around her for months, whispering his sweet, poisonous nothings into her ear, into her heart and here was the result. Except they weren't nothings at all, they were the things that kept her up at night, the things that made her stay up here in the attic and attempt to conjure animals. The things that had made her ask if she was supposed to live in the basement when she'd first moved in because why would they give _her_, of all people, Prue's bedroom? Why would they let _her_ fill the space Prue had left behind?

Had the walls moved? She suddenly felt the claustrophobia of yesterday creep up and wrap itself around her throat.

"Maybe this sister thing was a bad idea." Now, she was just ranting. Paige pressed her lips together and turned her back to Prue.

"Can_ I_ say something now?"

Unflappable. That seemed to be the kind of person Prue was. It occurred to Paige that she'd just learned the first thing about Prue that she'd ascertained for herself. She listened to Prue's footsteps until the woman, her sister, was standing before her. Unflappable and…fierce. A contradiction.

Prue stared at her, her head tilted slightly to the side. They were eye to eye, the same height.

"Sometimes Barbas makes a point without meaning to."

Paige drew back. That was unexpected.

"What are you talking about?"

Prue smiled softly and Paige thought she could see something of Piper in that smile.

"I'm your sister, too," Prue said quietly. "I never knew you. Nothing was ever more important to me than Piper and Phoebe, being their big sister, even when they were driving me crazy. Especially Phoebe." She chuckled slightly. "And I couldn't always show them how I felt because I was afraid. Afraid I'd lose them, like I lost Mom. It took becoming a witch, facing life and death all the time to remind me of what I'd almost forgotten. What I had taken for granted. Of what I had to lose." She smiled sadly. "It was facing Barbas that forced me to see that." Her eyes narrowed. "And then, suddenly I was dead and there was _you_ and at first, in my head at least, I saw you in my place. But, then I _actually_ saw you. At South Bay."

Paige frowned, curiosity threatening to drown her anger.

"You saw me?"

Prue nodded.

"Yeah, not too long ago. There was a little boy wearing bright green shoes. And he got into a blue stationwagon with who I assumed were his parents."

Bright green shoes. That sounded like…

"Jordan Marks," Paige replied. "His father used to beat him with empty beer bottles while his mother screwed around. The blue stationwagon belonged to the family he should have had from the beginning."

_The family he should have had from the beginning._ Was there such a thing? Which family should she have had? She wouldn't give up the Matthews for anything.

"I wish we'd known about you, Paige," Prue stepped closer, her dark eyes speaking regret. "We should have known about you and I'm sorry we didn't."

Responsible. That was the second thing she had learned about Prue for herself.

But, should Prue be the one apologising? Was there an apology to be made? Who should make it? Her mother, for giving her up? Her grandmother, for concealing it? The Elders, for changing her fate because of their rules? Perhaps all three. Perhaps others.

But, with the dissipation of her anger, Paige knew that Prue owed her no apology.

"It's done," Paige said absently, staring out the attic window. The anger was gone. Now, she was just weary, down to her bones. "And it can't be undone. And I can't talk in hypotheticals, about what ifs and what could have beens. Because I had the greatest parents anybody ever had and no sisters. There is no what if, there's only what is. And it's…"

_So hard._ She'd almost let the words leave her mouth.

"Not what you want?" Prue asked. "Not enough? Though you wouldn't be comparing yourself to me so much if it wasn't." At Paige's look, she raised her eyebrows slightly and a corner of her mouth. "I know a few things."

"I see how things are," Paige replied, looking down at her hands. "And we rushed it. Because of magic. Because The Source was still running around trying to destroy everything. Because the Power of Three had to be…"

"Don't I get a chance?" Prue asked. She gestured toward the attic door. "I mean, you seem ready to write this whole thing off. Don't I get the same chance you gave Piper and Phoebe? I'm your sister too. Don't write me off just because I'm dead."

A sister. The third thing. Paige could see it. She was so clearly someone's sister, in the way she spoke, the things she said. The look on her face, one that spoke understanding and care and a million other indefinable things.

And she was no better than Paige. The fourth thing. Paige was a sister too. She just wasn't terribly good at it. Yet.

"What do you want a chance with me for? You have Piper and Phoebe. You just said they mattered more than anything."

"Yes," Prue conceded. "But, I also said I never knew _you_. Besides, as much as I wanted to see them, and I _did_, I'm not here for them."

Paige frowned disbelievingly.

"What do you mean? They summoned you."

Prue stepped forward until they were barely two feet apart. There was that look again. Piper's look. Like she had something she knew that she needed to share with Paige. After a moment, Prue raised her hands, placing them on Paige's shoulders. It was the closest they'd ever been, this stranger who had poured out her thoughts, her regrets, who had asked for a chance…

"You…" she began, squeezing Paige's shoulders gently. "Have a lot to learn about being a sister. I can't speak about how it feels to be a younger sister, but I've had over thirty years of being an older one." She leaned forward slightly. "I don't know if you know this, but an older sister just can't stop themselves from doing whatever it takes to protect…"

Paige watched, transfixed, as Prue's eyes suddenly filled with tears. After a moment, she swallowed and went on.

"Piper did this for you, Paige. She _sees_ you, even when you question your powers, your position in this family, your identity. And I think she's ready to admit, now, that she didn't want to see you before. But, those days are gone. Now, you get the best of everything. You had the world's greatest parents and now you get sisters."

Paige suddenly found she couldn't see through the curtain of tears that flooded her own eyes.

"Piper really brought you here to talk to me?" she whispered.

Prue nodded and gave her shoulders a little shake.

"I don't think you are the only one who didn't think she was enough."

This wasn't at all what she'd thought. Not one bit. Barbas had shrunk her world down until she couldn't see anything else.

No, that wasn't true. It wasn't all Barbas. Before he'd shown up, it had been all her.

"While you're standing there, wrapped up in your own confusion, I'm just going to take this chance…" Prue lifted her arms and wound them around Paige's shoulders.

"Most people never get this chance," Prue whispered, tightening their embrace. "Right now, I think I'm the luckiest person alive or dead. The Power of Three has never been in safer hands and neither have the Halliwell sisters. All four of them."

Her arms were up and around Prue before she could even think about what it all meant.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Sorry I took awhile to post this final chapter. If you've read my stuff, you know I don't wrap things up neatly in a bow, but I hope you enjoy this ending nonetheless.**

**Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!**

Chapter 7

There was just something there that…fit.

Something easy in the way they looked at each other, at the snarky words said with an affectionate look, at the way it seemed as if they had never been apart, hadn't been separated by The Source, by blood and death and months of sorrow.

It was strange to watch.

Strange that she didn't feel envious.

It was hard not to look at them like she might an exhibit in a zoo, see them from the outside, as an independent observer. Because, yes, at this moment, she was on the outside, but she was looking at it all from a new place.

Paige had known, all this time, since the very moment she had met Piper and Phoebe, that there had been someone before her. A named, but unknown _other_, someone she knew almost nothing about, yet could guess so much from the haunted looks that had crossed her sister's faces. And she'd known from the heavy ache of inferiority she'd felt at the knowledge that she could only ever be a pale replacement.

But, now.

Now…

The _other_ had been made flesh. Before, all she'd had was the name, the legacy. Now she had Prue's arms desperately clutching at her younger sisters, dark eyes filled with tears of a thousand regrets, a sister who'd heard her sister's call and had answered.

For Paige.

Yes, she was seeing it all through new eyes. And Paige was filled with a sudden surge of affection for the sister she'd never known.

And was only too glad to watch as Prue stole a few more precious moments of a life she'd lost.

* * *

><p>Piper watched too.<p>

Part of her was slightly incredulous at herself.

Prue was here. In the flesh (temporarily), standing just a few steps away. The sister she had longed for, cast spells for, mourned for was within reach for the first time since they'd lost her.

But, that wasn't the sister she was watching.

She found the only thing she could do right now was fret and agonise over whether her plan had worked, try to find some small part of Paige's expression that would indicate…something. A burden lessened. A weight lifted.

A tide turned.

When Prue eventually returned to, well, the Afterlife, Piper knew that wouldn't be the end of it. There was, more than likely, a deluge of old wounds lying just beneath the surface of her youngest sister's boldness and attitude.

There were some things that couldn't be fixed with magic. And fixing (or creating) a new kind of sisterhood would have to be done the old-fashioned way.

There would be a few treasured hours with Prue yet.

But, for this? This beginning of things? Piper didn't want to wait.

She could see it in her mind's eye.

"_I distracted her with muffins."_

"_And you are?"_

Piper remembered that moment with such clarity. A moment of letting go, of reaching forward inch by painful inch. Paige hadn't said a word, had turned it over to her entirely, leaving the decision, the choice, in her hands. Piper remembered the look on Paige's face, though, an expression of understanding, of expectation, of wondering what she had been about to say by way of an answer.

"_I'm her sister."_

There'd been hope there. It suddenly struck Piper how much had been riding on her answer that day. One wrong word would have cut that fine, silver thread, severed it perhaps forever.

But, she'd chosen. Made the right choice, the only choice, that day.

Now, she had to live it. Now, she was ready to live it.

Piper looked over at Phoebe, who was in the middle of a story about Cole's coronation as the Source (That's the story she'd chosen to tell? Seriously?). Thankfully, it was at that moment that Phoebe glanced her way and caught her eye.

Piper cast her eyes pointedly at the door, hoping her expression said, _Would you mind telling that story downstairs, so I can have a potentially relationship-changing conversation with our youngest sister?_

She knew Phoebe wouldn't let her down.

* * *

><p>"That was subtle," Paige said dryly, as Prue and Phoebe left the attic.<p>

Piper turned to her in time to see the corner of her mouth tilt upwards a little. She answered with a smirk of her own.

"Well, Pheebs isn't exactly famous for being delicate," she replied.

Paige snorted in response.

A silence hovered, threatening to stretch into awkwardness, and the two sisters looked at each other. Paige chewed her lip nervously.

"So, maybe we could talk," Piper suggested, her eyes serious.

Paige cast her eyes towards where Phoebe and Prue had disappeared, headed for the living room.

"You know, Piper, I would understand if you wanted to wait," she said, smiling crookedly. "You've kinda earned this." She nodded in the direction of their sisters. "We can talk tomorrow. We have time." She winced slightly at that, as if aware of the sensitivity of reminding Piper that Prue's presence couldn't last.

Piper blew out a breath.

"Thanks…for understanding that. Believe me, it's the thing I have wanted most since… I know that she's not here forever, you know? That in an hour or two, or tonight, they'll call her back and she'll be gone and we'll have to carry on. And I know there's nothing I can do about it and I finally understand why we weren't allowed to see her before."

Paige nodded, taking a step toward the door.

"But…" Piper continued, stepping forward to cut Paige off. "I can't…I don't want to wait any more to tell you…" She stopped, barely two feet from Paige, and pressed her lips together, her brow furrowed.

Paige seemed eager to help.

"In case you're wondering, Prue told me that it was you. That summoned her, I mean. So, I know that, if that's what you wanted to say."

"Paige I have a thousand thing I want to…" Piper glanced round the room, before gesturing towards the couch. "Can we sit?"

They moved to the couch and sank down onto the cushions.

"There are a lot of things that I wish were different," Piper began. She shook her head absently. "Prue's death. Cole's…choice, or lack of. So many of the things that have happened to us." She gave Paige a small, watery smile. "Last year, I…was not in a good place. I was angry and afraid and life was just going on and I…" She paused, swallowing. _To hell with it_, she thought. "Paige, you were the best thing that could have happened to us and I'm sorry that you never knew that."

She waited.

It didn't sound like enough. After everything, it just didn't sound like enough.

But, then Paige looked at her with that little, half-smile she'd given…

"_You know, you're pretty amazing, Paige…"_

Paige weaved her fingers together, scratching at her skin to give her hands something to do. She heard something akin to desperation behind Piper's words and it filled her with a hope she hadn't dared to feel for so long. That, maybe, by vanquishing Barbas, by finally coming face to face with the demons within, she could vanquish the burden she carried.

And maybe find out what Prue had meant.

"_Now, you get the best of everything."_

"You know, it's so much easier to resent someone who has no face," Paige said. "Someone who has no voice, who can't talk back…someone who can't tell me what it's like to be a sister who lost the one thing she treasured the most. Well, two things…" She looked up at Piper.

"Three," Piper corrected softly and Paige smiled.

"Right. It was easier to compare myself to a ghost that had no frailty, this super-witch who could do no wrong." She huffed a laugh.

"I truly did bring her back for you," Piper whispered, her throat threatening to close. She moved her hand hesitantly, pausing a moment, before reaching out to grab one of Paige's. "I told you that day I came to South Bay that that wound you got wouldn't be the last…I…never thought that I would be the one inflicting pain on you. Yesterday, with Barbas, I think I finally saw…Saw what you needed, what I have done a terrible job of giving you." She twisted her lips, trying to hold back the threatening emotion. "You were right, you know? About what you said that day."

Paige frowned, her head tilting slightly.

"About what?"

Piper smiled again.

"You said it would get better. You promised it would. And it did. Without me even noticing, it did. You fulfilled your own promise. So, I have one to make now." She shifted closer. "I'm a year too late, but I'm ready. I'm the oldest sister, but if I'm going to do that job, I'm only going to get two shots. Phoebe accepted her lot years ago…"

Paige smiled crookedly, recalling Prue's words.

_You're not the only one who doesn't think she's enough._

"You know, you're not as bad as you think you are, Piper. And as for being the oldest, well, I don't think Prue's ever going to give that up."

Piper chuckled, wiping her eyes as she acknowledged the statement with a nod.

"Anyway," Paige continued, "I kind of accepted my lot a while ago too. For a minute there, I thought I might not want it…but…maybe the youngest doesn't get to choose. And maybe the youngest doesn't see things the way the others do." She shrugged one shoulder. "But, I remember what you said that day, too."

Piper raised her eyebrows.

"'I'm her sister,' you said," Paige said softly. "Those words meant more to me than…so many other things that have happened to us. Sometimes, I forget you said that. But, you reminded me today."

Piper reached over and took hold of Paige's other hand, felt the answering squeeze.

"It's not going to be a walk in the park," Piper said.

"Yeah, well, the last time we went walking through a park together, I totally aced the test you prepared for me," Paige shot back lightly.

Piper smiled, remembering.

"You did."

Paige pulled her hands back from Piper and stood up.

"So, before she goes back…Prue's most embarrassing moment?"

It was Paige's way of letting her know to go slow, Piper realised as she stood.

Small steps, bold, but small.

They had time. Despite demons and death and uncertainty, they had time.

"You're assuming there was only one," Piper replied with a grin. "I can give you top five."

Paige nodded, answering with a shy grin of her own and moved toward the attic door.

Piper's arm jerked forward instinctively, stopping her youngest sister.

"Paige…I have to…" She stepped forward.

It occurred to Paige as Piper's arms wrapped around her briefly, that this was the closest they'd ever been in almost a year and a half of knowing one another. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, as if she could actually feel the chip-chip-chipping away of that rock-hard burden in her chest.

There would be another goodbye soon. And a strange, uncertain future ahead.

She wondered if this was the first time she'd looked forward to it.


End file.
